PostPoems Be Artistic. Be Creative. Be Inspired!

Finn smiled cheerfully at Jalindal as she put the last of her bags into the cart, stifling laughter as he pretended to ignore her, red eyes turning quickly to something else. She wondered how much sleep he'd got, it can't have been much, she thought to herself with a snigger of laughter that she couldn't quite quell. From the opposite side of the courtyard she heard the same sort of sound, and she looked over to see Richard sitting there on his magnificent horse, it's coat gleaming and tail twitching to keep of the flies. She met his eyes, and quickly looked away, blushing, looking over at Jalindal. She smiled again, and went over to his side,

“Are you Ok?” She smiled comfortingly at him, before he gave a gruff nod.

“Yep.”

“Need any help?”

“I can manage it...”

“Too much beer last night?” She let a hint of innocent curiosity sink into her voice.  He only shook his head though, shooting her a filthy look. Finn smiled, and walked away, saying nothing. She grinned, and walked over to her own horse, a dappled grey pony by the name of Pond, because the first time she'd ridden him that's the first place he'd gone. Straight to the depths. She smiled to herself as she tightened his girth strap, clucking her tongue disapprovingly as he took a deep breath to make her put on the saddle too loose. She looked up at him,

“Cut it out, Pond...” Obligingly, he did, with an affectionate wicker, and a slight nudge to see if she had anything to offer him in the way of edibles. She shook her head, and he gave another wicker, this time quite clearly disapproving. She gave him a defensive look,

“What?” She laughed, and turned to get her saddle bags as she saw one of the new stable hands standing there, watching them, gob struck.

“Good God that's amazing...” he muttered, before noticing her looking over at him. He blushed, and quickly walked away, muttering something about leather and polishing. Finn gave a sympathetic smile to his back, she'd had to do hours upon hours of that when she was new, and stooped, picking up her saddle bags, and slinging them over the horses' back. He gave a slight grunt at the sudden weight, and she shifted the saddle slightly.

“Better?” She asked the horse, and he gave an affirmative wicker. She grinned, and gave him a stern look, “Now wait there...” She smiled, and turned, heading towards the stables and the head-groom. He smiled as he saw her, up to his knees in horse shit, mucking out the stalls like any common stable hand, he liked to do these sort of chores himself, much to the relief of the stable-hands.

“Good morning Midget.” She grimaced good-naturedly,

“Good morning Sir.” She laughed, “When will we be ready to head off?” He thought for a second, then nodded sagely,

“As soon as the Duke is here I reckon Midget. Could you please exercise the horses when we get there? And tell Jalindal that he has the day off...” She nodded, and walked away, leaving him to his stable work.



~ ~ ~ ~ ~



Richard looked over at her, his eyes following her as she walked back into the courtyard, looking at her curiously. One of his young noble friends rode up next to him, and noted where his eyes lay with a smirk,

“Surely not Richard!” He laughed, “A stable maid?” He laughed again, “Granted, she is one of the more attractive here but Richard... You could do so much better!” He laughed again, and was astonished at the sudden vicious glare he received from Richard.



~ ~ ~ ~ ~



About an hour later they were away, Jalindal hunched forward over his horse so he wouldn't have to open his eyes and half blind himself with the rising sun, just positioned to hit his eyes. He opened one eye a crack, and then the other. He sighed, relieved, and sat up, just able to see a little, but gradually getting used to the blinding bright light. He yawned, not bothering to cover his mouth, and then stretched, just beginning to wake up, he'd had of a headache truly to be proud of, but, so far, it appeared that he'd hidden it from everyone. He put a hand to his temple, and moaned slightly. “What  the hell did you drink last night?” He remembered how much, roughly. He thought he'd only had five or six drams, and a faint memory of a drinking competition with Aaron, but not enough to have this bad a hangover. He moaned softly to himself, leaning forward in the saddle, prostrate again, his head in his hands.

“Hello.” The voice was female, and right by his ear, with no warning, making him start, almost falling off his horse.

“Eae...” He swore, glaring at Finn and her chirpy voice and smile. He glared at her again, “What makes you so cheerful?” He said, his voice gruff. She shrugged,

“I'm not cheerful as such. Master Eldoras wanted me to tell you to exercise the horses when we get there though, so have fun with that...” She giggled, and rode ahead. Jalindal muttered something in Gaelic under his breath, and then settled down for the long ride.



~ ~ ~ ~ ~



Finn was almost dozing in the saddle when the call came for them to stop and make up camp that night, and it was with great relief that she dismounted, and started to set up her tent and tie up her horse. She smiled up at Pond, stroking his nose. He whickered appreciatively at her touch, and then bared his teeth, and playfully snapped at her fingers. She grinned, and reached into her breeches, pulling out a couple of pieces of carrot. She smiled and fed them to him, before jumping as a pair of arms enclosed her. Jalindal grinned at her reaction, and leant forward,

“Hello... Did I make you jump?” He laughed. She shrugged,

“A little I suppose.” She tied the last knot in Pond's halter, as it was tied to a tether, and then turned, shrugging out of his arms. “What do you want? A cure for a hangover?” She grinned, knowing she'd probably hit a sore spot. He shrugged,

“No, I'd just like to talk to you.” She nodded,

“Okay...” She waited for a moment, “What did you want to talk about?” He looked about a little,

“Do you want to head into the forest a little?” She raised an eyebrow,

“What do you want to talk about that we have to go into the forest? I assume it's private...” He blushed, and nodded, before turning away.

“Coming?” He looked back over his shoulder, one eyebrow raised, and she nodded, sighing.

“I suppose.” She patted Pond one more time on the nose, dug out an extra carrot, and gave it to him, before she followed Jalindal into the forest.



~ ~ ~ ~ ~



Jalindal walked into the depths of the shadowy trees, deep in thought. He kept an eye out for stray branches, ready to flick into his face. This time though he was in front, which probably had something to do with it. That and the fact that he wasn't behind Richard. That definitely had something to do with the fact that he wasn't getting cut into shreds. He looked over his shoulder at her, and took a deep breath, he couldn't put this off any more. He turned around, and took another step back as she kept coming, not having seen him stop. She grinned, nervous, and blushing. She probably had some idea of what he was going to say... he reflected. It was probably really obvious. He took a deep breath,

“Look... I wanted to just say...” He paused for a second, taking another step backwards, and the word moved around him, as he plummeted down, then suddenly jolted to a halt as he caught hold of the side of the pit that he'd fallen into with one hand. He looked up, making eye contact with Finn. He reached out with his free hand, towards her, as she moved forward, her eyes frantic, and then their voices combined in a piercing shriek as their hands caught, held, and then slipped, as his other hand came loose, and he plummeted towards the bottom of the darkness, and she was left behind.